Lungs of Buddha: Phoo Action Silver Jubilee
After Tank Girl more Jamie Hewlett-adjacent graphic capers discussed at The Comics Journal, this time with some actual Hewlett art: a review of the Phoo Action Silver Jubilee book, a big archival brick shepherded into life by the co-author of that 1996 strip and co-conspirator in its Get the Freebies precursor, Mat Wakeham.
Hewlett didn’t let the door hit him on the way out after ending business at the Phoo Action drawing board, so only isolated bits of Hewlett input crop up during the book’s long delves into undrawn mid-1990s sequels and unmade mid-2000s TV adaptations. By then the book isn't about Hewlett or comics, but Wakeham’s drive to make something out of the property - that and the never-ending search for Something Cool by different bits of the New Labour UK culture machine, none of which got what they wanted from Hewlett or Wakeham until the former got into the pop music business instead.
The art barrels along at just over the speed limit, Hewlett as holy goof, anarchic but smooth, uncouth but urbane, rebellious but presentable, and the entire period seems about as far back as the Jurassic.